Czech UN Youth Delegate argues for amplifying voices of youth in decision-making
The Czech UN Youth Delegates Programme connects the youth in Czechia with the United Nations. It provides a platform for the Czech youth to be represented within the organization, while also raising awareness about the UN through the activities of the youth delegates across the country they represent. I spoke with Veronika Novotná, who is one of the three Czech UN Youth Delegates for the 2024/2025 period, about her agenda, what topics she considers most pressing, and why the youth should be more involved in politics.
So let's start with a more personal question. What inspired you to apply to be a UN Youth Delegate?
“I think it was the opportunity to represent young people at the global scale and especially the people from the Czech Republic. To be their voice and to really address the pressing issues of our generation. It was also to talk about problems at the larger global scale and in a broader context.”
Let's talk about some of those problems. What is your agenda? What are you working on? There are three of you, so how do you divide that agenda as well?
“Each of us focuses on our respective SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). For example, I focus on SDG 8, which is titled, ‘decent work and economic growth,’ especially youth employment and improving access of young people to the job market.
“And this includes addressing the issue of unpaid internships, which are really widespread, but I would say is an unfair practice, not only in the Czech Republic but also elsewhere in Europe. And also, if we have a look at the global stage, it's not the best example as well.”
Czechia is already a small country. The added problem is that the youth already feels not represented in the EU because we're in central-eastern Europe. So, how do you ensure that these young voices are represented?
“It's really important to combine the national advocacy, with the global one, because when we talk about these issues like the underrepresentation of young people, it's similar, not only in the Czech Republic, but also in Slovakia, in Poland and so on.
“When we talk about it, we usually come to the conclusion that we share these experiences and we can work on them and we can collaboratively make some suggestions. We take them and go back to our national levels and we try to advocate for them as much as we can.
“And also I keep in touch with the Czech youth as much as I can. I try to listen to the voices of young people. We also have an informal group as the Czech UN Youth Delegates. This group consists of regional ambassadors, I would say, and each one of them is from a different part of the country and they specialize in different agendas. Some of them specialize more in mental health, climate change, regional inequalities, and quality education so that we can share our experiences. And this helps me to keep in touch with the youth from all around the country.
“We also look at data, not only from the Czech Republic but also at the European level, global level. We also do roundtables. In June, we did a roundtable with Czech youth where we also discussed the most pressing issues of young people. So then we know what the main problems we should focus on because sometimes it goes beyond our agendas.
“For example, my co-delegates, Julia specializes on SDG 4, education connected to AI (artificial intelligence), and Kateřina specializes on climate and climate action and transition. But there's a variety of topics that we can cover that we also try to work with.”
So then your guys' agendas also overlap in that sense? Because you have your colleague, you mentioned automation, and that is affecting youth employment and unemployment as well. So you guys interact and collaborate on that?
“Yes, a lot. All three of us, also specialize on SDG 5, gender equality, and also SDG 10, reducing inequalities overall. So all these three topics really go hand in hand with gender equality and equality as a whole.”
One issue that comes to mind is how do you think about a global challenge. Are they just the typical problems, such as climate change?
“I'm really glad young people are really involved in the debate on climate change and are really taking concrete steps. And also it's really important, and it goes through all of the topics, that we somehow, as the youth, internalize the norm of sustainability, and that we change our minds on the topic, which I think is really important for building an inclusive and sustainable future society. So I think this inclusivity – the importance of it – goes beyond every topic. And so it's really an important question we're trying to address as a youth together.”
And what about the gender inequalities? The Czech labor market has really good low unemployment rates. It's always around 3% around there. But one of the things that makes it one of the worst labor markets is that you have great imbalances in paid work, between males and females. Imbalances in part-time work and such things. Are you guys talking with politicians as well domestically here?
“We're trying to push the narrative that it's really important to have equal access to the job market for both women and men. We're also trying to break some gender stereotypes. There was a global survey, I think it was in 2016, that showed that actually both women and men feel the importance of gender equality in a workspace and that women should work in paid jobs as well. So there are still some constraints, but I really hope that we can address them and we can work toward achieving that one day.”
So what percentage of your time would you say devotes itself to these local rather than global/EU problems? Because you're looking at data from both sides. Would you be able to divide it into what you prioritize more or less?
“I still keep in touch more with people from the Czech Republic and I still operate more within the Czech Republic. And when it comes to, for example, unpaid internships, this is for me more pressing at the Czech level. So I'm trying to address it more locally. I feel that it's always better to start at a local level and then go to upper levels.
“But what really helps me is the communication with other delegates from other countries and also from the central or the eastern European region, because we often share the same experiences when it comes to this. So we can share the good practices and then we can implement them at home.
“So it goes both ways. But most of the time I spend time advocating for things at a national Czech level.”
And that also looks like recently you were highlighting internships within Czechia, that people who are interested in politics can apply to. And then you were providing links and that kind of thing, which was very helpful. So is that one of the ways you and your colleagues are doing things, you look for opportunities, and you highlight these workshops as well?
“Yes, exactly. It's one part of our job to inform young people about these opportunities.
“Especially for me, this is a really important question because I come from a small town in the Moravian region. And when I was in high school, we didn't have any opportunities to participate, or how to be active. There was some competition when it came to mathematics, biology, and so on, but not really social sciences.
“So, I'm trying to inform young people how they can get involved and what they can do and overall about all the opportunities they have and that they can use for their careers.”
Is that the main way to get young people involved in politics? One concern obviously everyone has is with young people getting involved in politics, especially in our region. There's a kind of viciousness in politics. You see it in the Slovakian setting, but you see it in the Czech setting as well. So how would you address that viciousness? Do you see it at all, especially on the EU level?
“I think there's this major issue that young people are really underrepresented when it comes to decision-making and that these norms of political behavior are sometimes the causes of why they do not get involved, which is a pity because we need more young people involved because it's our future. So we need to have our representatives speak for us as well.
“But yeah, I think that it's really important to address things at a local level even when it comes to politics because you can also see the direct impacts of it better. But also you can motivate other people around you to do the same, to take action and to be active and not just passive and to really try to make change in this world.”
And are some of those things that help, would you say, someone like Zuzana Čaputová, the Slovakian former president? Is having representation at the higher level one of those helpful things that you see young people looking to and citing as a good example of leadership?
“Yes, for sure. It's really important to have these role models also in politics because we always, I think when we start with something, we have to somehow have someone to look to and who will motivate us to do the same and that we can do it the good way as well.”|
Last question here. How do you envision the future of youth involvement in global decision-making? Do you see that as a part of the EU's focus moving forward?
“Yes, I would love to see more people actively engaged in participating in decision-making and also treated as true partners, because in the end, our inputs have to be reflected enough because it's our future. And we are not only the future of our respective countries but of the EU as a whole and of the world in the end.
“So it's really important to not just only listen to us, but to reflect our ideas and to work with us as partners on equal footing.”
Is that an ambition that you see being realized? Being partners on equal footing as well? Do you see older generations taking you as seriously?
“I think there are efforts and there are more and more efforts, which is great, and I'm really happy to see that. But for me, it's still not enough. And for many young people around me, we really, I think, should be listened to more. And I think that we're already doing it right. We're listening to young people and involving them. But the second step is to really, really reflect their ideas and to have the conversation sustainably continuing.”
